Though Stifling, Subway Platforms Cooler Than the Ground Above

FedEx delivery man Miguel Pena works in the heat Tuesday in Manhattan. ‘I never remember working in conditions like these, this is too hot,’ he said.

With today’s record heat of 103 degrees, New Yorkers already know it’s been really, really hot out there. But since so many of us are hiding out in air-conditioned buildings (or city-sanctioned cooling centers), there’s really only one place where we’re really sweating the high temps: the subway platform, that smelly slab of concrete we New Yorkers endure before the train rumbles in and doors to a mobile air-conditioned haven slide open.

Though far from balmy, the platforms are at least slightly cooler than the air outside. That’s according to a cursory, highly unscientific survey by The Journal, with the help of a RadioShack digital thermometer.

For example: at about 2:30 p.m., our trusty thermometer told us that the block outside Grand Central station was 98.5 degrees. Down below on the subway platform for the shuttle to Times Square, the thermometer displayed a temperature of 86.5. But then, the Grand Central platform is air-conditioned.

More telling was the disparity near the Times Square subway station: 101.8 degrees outside, but just 99.0 on the 1/2 uptown platform. Riders there were noticeably hot, fanning themselves with anything that could generate air flow.

The difference was greater at the Columbus Circle stop, with the thermometer displaying 94.5 degrees outside and a mere 92.3 degrees on the platform. There, a group from the Glen Oaks Country Club stood engulfed in sweat. They had participated in an “Amazing Race” for the club. They ran or walked about ten miles. “When you’re running in this heat, you want to die,” said Dayna Guadagno, 19, of Carle Place, who was outside since 8 a.m. “And the subway station is worse.”

That may not be so—according to our thermometer—but it can certainly feel that way. Sitting on a wooden bench on the 116th Street subway platform—92.5 outside, 91.2 below—Rose Denis, a 50-year-old teacher who fanned herself with a copy of La Voz Hispanica said thought it may feel muggier still because of a lack of ventilation. “My trick is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,” she said.

After exiting the platform at the Rockefeller Center stop on the D line—94.2 outside, 90.5 below—The Journal came to a halt inside the News Corporation building, where the air conditioning, for all those wondering, rested at a comfortable 76.1, according to the thermometer.